The Mother I Carry: A Memoir of Healing from Emotional Abuse
Author: Louise M. Wisechild
List Price: $12.95
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ISBN: 1878067389
Publisher: Seal Press (November, 1993)
Sales Rank: 71,350
Average Customer Rating: 4.57 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 3 out of 5
The Mother I Carried
The book was a little hard for me to follow, I had to read and re-read to understand. It took my a while to finish the book, but when I did, I was left with a feeling of validation. I thought I was the only person who had such a emotionally abusive mother and it was very cripling. After reading this book, I found out why I have had so many problems in my life and have began therapy. I saw so much of myself in this book and so much of my mother. This is a great book for anyone who feels alone in their emotions. It is well worth the time it took me to read the book. I would recommend this book for anyone who has ever been abused by someone they loved so much.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Read and re read!!!
The Mother I Carry reads very well! Louise Wisechild is a gifted story teller, in her poignant autobiography of surviving incredible emotional abuse at the hands of her chronically narcissistic mother.I recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand how our childhood relationships affect our adult life; the emotionally crippling "messages" we receive as children of abusers; how these messages are internalized; what we try to do to counterbalance them [survive]; and how effectively a creative child can be in the face of overwhelming abuse; and how and what we can do to heal our wounded selves so we can function with conscious awareness and true connection in our adult world.
Louise uses the concept of "inner selves" to illustrate how under the incredible stress of emotional [and sexual...see her other book "the Obsidian Mirror, written before this one] abuse, strong emotions [especially conflicting ones] have to be compartmentalized, into smaller individual "packages" in order for a child to survive the belief that death is the only alternative.
This is a wonderful affirmation for pluralized individuals anywhere on the continuum between differentiation and dissociation, be it full MPD/DID or Mid -continuum [DDNOS]. There is no debate over integration/non; in fact no mention of MPD/DID, just pure and total acceptance of her method of dealing with the abuse she suffered, and the restructuring of her responses to triggers, in order to move forward in a healthy happy life.
Read and re-read...any one who cares about maintaining interaction with the world in which they currently live will benefit from this book.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Triumph in the end of a pain filled journey
I think maybe "recovery" takes on different forms for everyone and it was interesting to read about Louise's life and lifestyle today. This book is very helpful to those who know their parents should never have been parents, and in breaking the generational cycle. Louise's writing style is very bold and holds nothing back, it comes across as having all the honesty and truth she clearly values. For writing this book, Louise should be extremely proud. Similar Products
Children of the Self-Absorbed: A Grown-Up's Guide to Getting over Narcissistic Parents
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